SARASOTA (April 9, 2014) – Sarasota Memorial Health Care System opened its fifth urgent care center, offering residents on either side of I-75 along the Bee Ridge corridor and beyond a more convenient and less costly place to seek care for immediate health concerns and minor emergencies

“Our urgent care centers provide services that are half way between a private doctor’s office and an Emergency Room for conditions that really can’t wait till the next day, said Reuben Holland, MD, medical director of the Sarasota Memorial’s Emergency Care and Urgent Care Centers. “We stitch up a lot of lacerations, set broken bones and care for many routine ailments, like the common cold, flu, sore throat, chest congestion, cough, ear and sinus infections and urinary infections.”

Centrally located on Bee Ridge Road’s Center Gate Office Park on the south side of Bee Ridge between Honore and Cattlemen Roads, the new urgent care center is open seven days a week, 8 am-8 pm and staffed by Sarasota Memorial’s board certified emergency and family medicine physicians.

Like all of the health system’s urgent care centers, the Bee Ridge site also provides flu, pneumonia and pertussis vaccine, school and executive physicals and other routine care. No appointments are necessary and most patients are seen within 30 minutes or less. The center accepts most insurance plans and provides discounts for self-pay patients.

The Bee Ridge center also offers walk-in laboratory and X-ray services, for those receiving care at the center and others who have referrals from a personal physician. All of Sarasota Memorial’s urgent care centers have full access to the advanced diagnostic services offered 24/7 by Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, as well as its electronic medical system, giving doctors immediate access to patients’ important test results and medical histories.

About Sarasota Memorial
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional referral center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of inpatient, outpatient and extended care services, with more than 800,000 patient visits a year. Sarasota Memorial’s 806-bed acute care hospital has been recognized repeatedly as one of the nation’s largest and best, with superior patient outcomes and a complete continuum of outpatient services– from urgent care clinics and physician groups, laboratory and diagnostic imaging centers, to home health and skilled nursing & rehabilitation. Sarasota Memorial is the only hospital in the Suncoast region (Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties) ever to rank in U.S. News’ “Best Hospitals” list. For more information, visit: www.smh.com/urgentcare